Battle of Afsin

The Battle of Afsin (1053) was a battle of the Muslim conquest of Turkey. An army of 936 Turkish troops under Qilich of Homs engaged a Byzantine army of 981 troops under Alvanites of Sochos at Afsin in present-day Kahramanmarash Province, Turkey. Using cavalry as a shock troop, the Byzantine army destroyed the Turkish right flank and used a wheeling maneuver to rout the Turks from behind. Qilich was captured, and his army fell apart.

Background
The Turks and the Byzantine Empire fought over the region of Anatolia (present-day Turkey) for centuries, and Anatolia was the site of several battles between the Muslims and the Greeks/Romans. In 1053, a Turkish army of 936 troops under Qilich of Homs was met during its invasion of Anatolia at the town of Afsin (in present-day Kahramanmarash Province, Turkey) by 981 Byzantine troops under Alvanites of Sochos. Both sides had large cavalry contingents, with the Byzantines having both the elite Archontopoulai orphans of nobles and the somewhat-outdated Kataphractoi cavalry and the Turks having the Sipahi Lancers. The two sides also had a large force of infantry, with the Byzantines fielding swordsmen and spearmen, while the Seljuks fielded town militia, weak infnatry that used spears as well.

Battle
The Byzantine army had a defensive position in the arid hills, with their infantry being positioned in front, their archers behind them, their Kataphractoi to the right flank, their Archontopoulai to the left flank, and the general in the center, behind the archers. The Turks also had cavalry on either flank, but they did not take full advantage of this; their cavalry galloped at the same pace as the infantry, walking to the field of battle. Alvanites took advantage of this and ordered the Kataphractoi to charge the Sipahi cavalry mirroring their position, and they routed the weaker Turkish cavalry. The Turkish infantry and their right flank cavalry promptly charged the rest of the Byzantine force, and the archers (who were ordered not to flee to a safe distance to fire) fired on the Turks up close. The Turkish Sipahis charged the Archontopoulai, gaining the advantage of the shock force of their charge, but the Archontopoulai were stronger and overwhelmed the Turks. After beating off Turkish cavalry attacks on their position, the Kataphractoi swung around the Turkish flank and charged the general Qilich, and the Turks were attacked from two sides. Qilich was captured, and the Turks were routed. 644 Seljuks and 264 Byzantines were lost.